The fossil fuel industry is spending record amounts to keep California from regulating it

A coalition called the Last Chance Alliance reports that oil and gas interests spent more than $17 million lobbying against California climate and worker-safety bills in the first half of 2026, including a record $10.3 million in the first quarter alone. Much of it targeted a bill forcing companies to help pay for climate-disaster rebuilding, plus milder measures on refinery safety task forces and cleanup-cost reporting.

Top spenders included the Western States Petroleum Association at $4.3 million and Chevron at $3.7 million, funneled partly through consultants and groups presenting themselves as grassroots while funded by industry. The lobbying helped defeat bills including one that would have let the state attorney general sue fossil fuel companies over climate-disaster damages tied to California's home-insurance crisis.

The spending arrived as Chevron reported $12 billion in second-quarter profit, nearly five times its year-earlier total, and Exxon Mobil posted $14.5 billion, more than double its prior year's figure, both driven by oil-price spikes from the Iran conflict. Chevron's CEO nonetheless told CNBC the situation for his company was getting 'more difficult' by the day.

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